Alex Jones to pay Sandy Hook families an additional $473 million in restitution, bringing total to nearly $1.5 billion – update

3. UPDATE: A Connecticut judge on Thursday awarded the families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting an additional $473 million in punitive damages, to be paid by Inforwars founder Alex Jones. It comes after the jury awarded families $965 million in damages after finding that Jones was responsible for spreading lies about the 2012 school massacre that killed 26 people, including 20 children.

Jones faced separate civil charges for defamation, defamation and emotional distress. Earlier this year, a Texas jury awarded the family of victim Jesse Lewis a total of $49.3 million after finding that Jones’ claims that Sandy Hook was a “false flag” operation subjected the family to death threats and intimidation submitted.

2nd UPDATE, October 12: Parents of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting broke down in tears today as a jury in Waterbury, Connecticut awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for defamation, defamation and emotional distress against Infowars founder Alex Jones, who claimed the massacre was a farce

The dollar amounts — totaling $1 billion — varied for each plaintiff and also included attorneys’ fees and other punitive damages. Jones chose not to appear in court today.

The jury’s damages finding was only the latest against Jones, whose online show and media outlet regularly shared conspiracy theories but still drew sizable audiences.

Family members described facing death threats and damaging their children’s graves after Jones claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, which killed 26 people, including 20 children, was a “wrong” flag operation .

The damages far exceeded a Texas jury’s decision in August, which awarded Jones $45.2 million in punitive damages. The final damages award of $965 million may be reduced given state limits on punitive damages, but it is indicative of the seriousness the jury took with Jones’ actions and the impact they had on grieving families.

According to Ben Collins of NBC News, Jones was on his show when the verdicts were read. He quoted Jones as saying: “It must be hell. They just read the damage even if you don’t have the money.”

Jones also tried to raise funds by showing a split screen of the court case while the verdicts were read. “The money you donate does not benefit these people,” he said.

Read more about the case below.

UPDATE, 5.8 A Texas jury has awarded Alex Jones $45.2 million in damages for spreading the false claim that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

The jury award comes in addition to the $4.1 million in damages the jury awarded Thursday to the parents of Jesse Lewis, one of the 26 people killed in the massacre. Jones was previously found liable in the parents’ defamation lawsuit, which alleges that the Infowars host’s claim that Sandy Hook was a “false flag” operation subjected her to death threats and intimidation.

It is unclear whether the $45.2 amount will be enforced, as Texas law limits punitive damages.

Jones was not in court when the verdict was read. He confronted the parents earlier this week and admitted that the Sandy Hook massacre was “100% real”. But Jones was also confronted by her attorney about some of Infowars’ recent attacks on the judge and his own characterization of the jury as “extremely working class.”

Jones faces two other lawsuits filed by parents of Sandy Hook victims.

During testimony Friday, an economist put the value of Jones and his company Free Speech Systems at between $135 million and $270 million.

Lewis’ parents, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, sued for $150 million in damages.

During Friday’s closing arguments, one of the parents’ attorneys, Wesley Ball, told the jury: “You are being asked to stop Alex Jones from doing those horrible things to another family or person again and to stop others from to scare whoever might be in. put yourself in his shoes.”

Below you can see the jury reading out the jury award.

PREVIOUS, August 4 Alex Jones must pay at least $4.1 million in damages to the parents of one of the 6-year-old victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, a jury ruled Thursday.

Jones, the conspiracy theorist behind Infowars, has already lost his defamation case, and jurors in the Texas case were trying to determine how much damages he owed to Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was among the 26. killed in the massacre. The jury now moves to the next phase of the trial to decide how much damages should be awarded.

After Jones peddled the false claim that Sandy Hook was a false flag operation, the parents say they faced death threats and continued harassment. They demanded $150 million in damages.

During the hearing, which was televised this week, Jones faced the parents, who saw the damage caused by his claims that the school shooting was a hoax. Jones, who spent two days on the stand, said he now believes Sandy Hook is “100% real” as he tried to push back against the notion that he was a constant denier of what happened.

But on Wednesday, Jones faced tough cross-examination by the parents’ lawyer, Mark Bankston. Bankston revealed to Jones that his lawyers accidentally sent him two years worth of text messages and emails.

Bankston told the court on Thursday that the January 6 commission requested those messages. Jones, who defended the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, was charged under the commission’s January 6 investigation. The judge in the case, Maya Guerra Gamble, denied a defense motion to seal the case and declare a mistrial.

Jones faces damages in another Connecticut case brought by a group of Sandy Hook families and in another case in Texas, where his company is located.

At the recent hearing, the parents’ attorney also confronted Jones about the recent Infowars attacks on Gamble, as well as Jones’ own characterization of the jury as “extremely working class.”

Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.